(04-27) 15:21 PDT OAKLAND -- Lonnie Monroe, 54, was headed home from a landscaping job on Thursday, pushing his shopping cart with a lawn mower and other equipment on an Interstate 580 overpass near Oakland's Glenview neighborhood.

When he encountered a man near the span on Ardley Avenue about 1:40 p.m., he instantly knew something was amiss.

"You could see the look on his face," Monroe said. "There was something seriously wrong with him. I just felt his energy was bad."

To his horror, the man with the purple striped shirt and purple sneakers began walking onto the overpass - except on the other side of the protective railing, exposing him to traffic.

Oakland police Sgt. William Bardsley told officers to let Monroe stay right where he was.

Good rapport

"You had such a good grip on him and good rapport with him, I said, 'Let Lonnie keep talking to him,' " Bardsley told Monroe afterward.

Oakland firefighters maneuvered a ladder truck below the group. Oakland school district Sgt. Antonio Fregoso then climbed to the top, handcuffed the suicidal man to the ladder as a precaution and held onto him as the ladder was lowered to the center median at 2:15 p.m.

"I'm just glad everything ended well, and we got him the help he needed," Fregoso said.

Galvin said he had trouble describing how relieved he felt.

"It was just, like this crazy celebratory feeling," he said. "I don't know how to put it into words. I'm still in shock. When we first got there, this person definitely could have jumped. I came that close to seeing (the person) die right in front of me."

Monroe dismissed any suggestions that he was a hero.

He began tearing up as he said, "It's the right thing to do, you know?"

He added, "It's not actually the right thing, it's the honorable and worthy thing to do."